Do the Work!: Overcome Resistance and get ouf of your own way

Steven Pressfield

Oct 2014 · Black Irish Books

About this ebook

Could you be getting in your way of producing great work? Have you started a project but never finished? Would you like to do work that matters, but don't know where to start?

The answer is Do the Work, a manifesto by bestselling author Steven Pressfield, that will show you that it’s not about better ideas, it’s about actually doing the work. Do the Work is a weapon against Resistance – a tool that will help you take action and successfully ship projects out the door.

“There is an enemy. There is an intelligent, active, malign force working against us. Step one is to recognize this. This recognition alone is enormously powerful. It saved my life, and it will save yours.”

Do the Work may be just what you need to get out of your own way.

Ratings and reviews

Pressfield's books on motivation are divisive because, strictly speaking, they're not terribly scientific. You can read other books on where it really comes from, hearing the same tips again and again. But often simply knowing what and how isn't enough because the limbic system is too dead set against all the energy spent for returns it does not understand. We're up against an inner beast that doesn't let you in the drivers' seat when it matters most. A conscious mind needs ammunition, something that can burn through this lag in our evolutionary development. A quasi-religious zeal is one such method, and that's what Pressfields' books provide. He identifies "Resistance," an implacable, ever-present enemy. By doing this, he's framing a literal battlefield, speaking a language your emotional side understands. Though the text is (mostly) secular in nature, you'll go into battle knowing you're empowered by dogma. You need to be okay with that to be okay with these books.

Sure I read kid books growing up only because I was forced to. But to read a book by choice to the end, I had never been able to. How I managed to finish this book is beyond me... I have a feeling it was because the author slapped me in the face with true facts about what prevents us from achieving anything in our lives. This book hit really close to home and I will never forget it. Thank you Steven and thanks to those that made this book possible to reach my eyes. Loved it!

Gave me the kick up the backside and to pursue all the ideas and opportunities I have been putting off for too long. Great book that gives a step by step guide in reaching your dreams. Do not procrastinate any longer. Read this book.

About the author

Author Steven Pressfield was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad in September 1943. He graduated from Duke University in 1965 and joined the Marine Corps. Before becoming a full-time writer, he worked as a copy writer, taxi driver, bartender, tractor-trailer driver, fruit picker, and worked on oil rigs. He then moved to California and began writing screenplays. In 2000, his debut novel, The Legend of Bagger Vance, was made into a movie starring Matt Damon and Will Smith. He primarily writes military historical fiction set in classical antiquity. Most of his novels are told from the first-person perspective of the main character.